EXCERPT: “The Free Press will host a forum on the topic of affordable housing in the Mankato area with area experts taking questions and suggesting solutions to this serious regional economic issued detailed in an in-depth Free Press report. The Free Press Forum on affordable housing will be 6:30 p.m to 8 p.m.Tuesday, Sept. 26 at the Minnesota River Room of the Blue Earth County Historical Society, 424 Warren St., Mankato. An in-depth Free Press report published in May detailed the severe lack of affordable housing in Mankato. A housing study updated in 2016 showed 54 percent of Mankato renters pay 30 percent or more of their income in rent. In another statewide study, Blue Earth County was shown to be the top county for housing cost burden, where 30 percent of renters pay 50 percent or more of their income for housing.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2hdNuiV